Events from the year 1881 in Scotland.
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- 1 March – the Cunard Line's SS Servia, the first steel transatlantic liner, is launched at J. & G. Thomson's shipyard at Clydebank.[1]
- 12 March – Andrew Watson of Glasgow's Queen's Park F.C. (from a mixed Scottish/British Guianese background) captains the Scotland national football team in a 6–1 victory against England, becoming the world's first black international Association football player.
- 1 July – formation, under the Childers Reforms of the British Army, of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), Gordon Highlanders, Highland Light Infantry and Seaforth Highlanders.
- 20/21 July – 58 men, the crews of ten fishing boats (mostly sixareens) from Yell, Shetland, are drowned in a sudden storm.
- 25 August – Edinburgh Royal Review of Volunteers ("The Wet Review"): Large numbers of Volunteer Forces from all over Scotland parade before Queen Victoria in Holyrood Park on a day of prolonged heavy rainfall.
- 14 October – the Eyemouth disaster ("Black Friday"): a severe storm strikes the Berwickshire coast; 189 fishermen die.[2]
- 21 December – the Aberdeen Line's SS Aberdeen, the first oceangoing ship successfully powered by a triple expansion steam engine, designed by Alexander Carnegie Kirk, is launched at Robert Napier and Sons' yard at Govan.
- The remains of Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (died 1880), are stolen from the family crypt on the Dunecht estate.[3]
- Memorial cairn erected at the site of the Battle of Culloden (1746).
- Bruichladdich distillery established on the Rinns of Islay.
- Clydebank Co-operative Society formed.
- Inverness Museum and Art Gallery originally opened.
- Fettesian-Lorettonian Club established as a joint sporting club of the two named Edinburgh public schools, primarily for the playing of rugby union.
Aitchison, Peter (2001). Children of the Sea: the story of the Eyemouth disaster. East Linton: Tuckwell Press. ISBN 1-86232-240-6.
Roughead, William (1913). "The Dunecht Mystery". Twelve Scots Trials. Edinburgh: W. Green & Sons. pp. 248–272. Retrieved 6 June 2014.